Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

Honestly, I was completely lost with what you were trying to tell me there—completely lost. The other day, when I said, 'Minister, will this bill allow companies operating in our waters to buy carbon emissions from other countries and pump them into our seabeds?' you said:

… I can't comment on whether commercial arrangements for Australian companies or companies operating in our waters would involve buying carbon dioxide. However, I can indicate that the purpose of this bill is to establish the regulatory arrangements that would be necessary if a company wanted to establish a project to do this, and it sets out a series of things that would need to occur, including a country-to-country agreement between Australia and the other country that was involved in such a project, and then a series of steps that the proponent would need to take to demonstrate that it meets the stringent environmental and other regulatory requirements that are set up in the London protocol.

So you have virtually said that you're going to allow this. You have said that, if they come to a commercial country to country arrangement, you are going to allow it. I'm saying to you: it's not just about carbon dioxide. We talk about the environment and the concern for our seabeds, marine life and everything there. As I said to you, it's been proven that leaks do occur from this pumping into our seabeds. There is absolutely no guarantee that you can give the Australian people that it has not occurred, that it's a safe project. You have failed to actually answer us about the safety of this in our Australian waters. You have given me no guarantee that it's not going to be anything other than carbon dioxide. So I am asking the minister: if you're going to allow this to happen and you are going to allow commercial arrangements to be done between Australia and other countries, what guarantees are you going to give to the Australian people that it's going to be nothing other than just carbon dioxide?